Combined feed-water heater and auxiliary condenser.



No. 65,152. Patented June 5, 1900. 1F. m. WHEELER.

COMBINED FEED WATER HEATER AND AUXILIARY CONDENSER.

(Application filed Dec. 1, 1899.)

(N o M o d e l THE NORRIS PETERS ca. PHOTO-UTHO" WASHINGTON. DV 0.

NiTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TO THE WHEELER CONDENSER AND ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

COMBINED FEED-WATER HEATER AND AUXILIARY CONDENSER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 651,152, dated June 5, 1900. Application filed December I 1899- Serial No. 738,814 1N0 model.)

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK MERIAM WVHEELER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in a Combined Feed-Water Heater and Auxiliary Condenser, of which the following is a specification.

In steam vessels there are usually steamro engines for performing various operations .aboard the vessel, and these engines are required bothwhile the vessel is in port and also While at sea; butof course when asteamship is at anchor or discharging or receiving cargo in port the main engines are not made use of. It is important to provide at all times for heating the feed-water and also for condensing the steam, whether the same passes from the main engine or from auxil- 2o iary engines.

The object of the present invention is to employ one device as a condenser for the steam from auxiliary engines when the vessel is in port and to use the same apparatus as the feed-water heater for the feed-supply to the main boilers, the feed-Water acting as the condensing medium for the steam from the auxiliary engines.

In the drawing I have represented bya vertical section and elevation the present improvement in connection with a vertical combined feed-water heater andauxiliary condenser; but any suitable character of condenser may be made use-of. I have, however, represented a series of tubes I, through which the condensing-water passes, and there is the cock A in the pipe O, extending from the condenser to the circulating-pump D, and the cock B is in the pipe E, that passes away from the vessel for the discharge of salt water into the sea. The hot-well F is below the condenser A, and into this a pipe F leads from the condenser of the main engines, and there is a feed-pump G, connected by the pipe 4 to the hot-well, and the pipe 5 from this pump G leads to the pipe 6, that conveys the feed-water to the boiler, and there is a cook 18 in. the pipe 6. There-is also a branch 7 and cook 8 to the water-supply chamber 9 of the condenser and another pipe 10 therefrom to the boiler, with a cook 11 adjacent to the cock B in the pipe E. Under the ordinarycircumstances of use when in port the circulating pump D draws the salt water through the pipe D and passes the same through the pipe O and cook A and through the tubes I in the condenser and away through the cock B and by the discharge-pipe E. The steam from the auxiliary engines and pumps that may be Working in the vessel always comes in by the pipe 11 into the condenser A, and by the action of the tubes I, which are always cooler than the incoming steam, such steam is condensed and falls into the hot-well F, and into the same hot-well may pass the water from the condenser of the main engines, and the feed-pump G is adapted to take all the water that comes into the hot-well and force it through the pipe 5, and if now the cook 18 is opened and the cooks 8 and 11 closed the water will pass directly to the boiler by the pipes 5 and Sand cook 18. If the vessel is at sea, the cock A will be closed and the circulating-pump D stopped and the cock B also closed, and if the cock 18 is now closed and the cocks 8 and 11 are opened the feed-water as forced through the pipe 5 by the feed-pump G from the hot- Well goes through the pipe 7, cock 8, and through the tubes I in the condenser, (through which the salt water ordinarily passes from the circulating-pump D,) and then this feedwater passes by the pipe 10 and cock 11 to the boiler, and as this feed-water passes through the tubes l of the condenser it becomes heated in its temperature in consequence of the heat from the steam that comes into the condenser from the exhausts of the main engines and any auxiliary engines, pumps, &c., that may be in operation performing duties on shipboard while the vessel is at sea. By this means the one condensing device serves as a condenser under all circumstances. It is availed of as a feed-water heater for obtaining additional heat to the feed-water when the vessel is under way and the main engines are in use. When the vessel is at anchor and the auxiliary engines and pumps are in use, the circulating-pump D is brought into operation to cause the salt water to pass through the tubes I and effect the condensation of all the steam coming from said devices. The water of condensation from the hot-well in this instance goes directly to the boiler by the pipe 6 instead of going indirectly by the pipes 7 and 10 when the circulating-pump is out of action.

The relations and relative positions of the pipes may be varied according to the character of the condenser and the other features of the steam arrangements in the vessel. In all instances, however, the water from the main condenser passes into the hot-well, and the steam from all auxiliary engines passes into the condenser, and the condenser is kept at the proper temperature either by the external Water passed through the circulatingpump and through the condenser or by the feed-water being directed through the condenser when the external Water is excluded.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination in a condenser with a circulating-pump and a feed-pump, of means for passing external cooling-water through and away from the condenser for condensing the steam and means for returning the water of condensation to the boiler, and means for closing off the circulating-pump and exterthe condenser, for passing the feed-water through the condenser on its way to the boiler for condensing the steam therein, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with the condenserand the circulating pump and pipes for directing external water through the condenser and a hot-well and feed-pump, of pipes leading from the feed-pump the one to the boiler and the other to the circulating-pipe for the external water, and cooks in said pipes, a cock for shutting oif such external circulating water, a pipe for taking away the circulating Water and a cock for closing the same, and a pipe leading to the boiler from the discharge side of the circulating-pipe of the condenser and a cock for closing the same, whereby the feed-Water can be directed through the condenser for cooling the same and for condensing the steam passing into such condenser when the external circulating water is shut off from such condenser and the circulating-pump stopped, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 23d day of November, 1899.

FREDK. MERIAM \VHEELER.

WVitnesses:

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, S. T. IIAVILAND. 

